This Way to the Stars
by Dark Paladin is Da Boss
Summary: "Sometimes you must hurt in order to know, fall in order to grow, lose in order to gain because the greatest lessons are learned through pain."
1. Prologue

Prologue

_"__When do you see farthest? At night, of course, because when everything else is dark enough, you can finally see the beauty of the stars."_

When the dust cleared, there was a single, faintly glowing character imprinted on the ground. Daigui froze, shocked, and immediately started chanting shielding incantations when he regained his senses. His voice shook so much that his ward came out uneven. Kael would be quite displeased to see such a sloppy Ward of Wyrndïv. He wanted to cry out, to release all his anger and fear to the world. But for some reason, for some cruel, suffocating reason, he could not find his voice to do so. Suddenly, a boy walked out under the moonlight, and Daigui could see his features clearly. The boy's eyes had some strange cast on them, impossibly dark like bottomless obsidian. When he looked into those eyes, Daigui felt his blood chill to the bone.

"Oh Master," he found himself whispering. "Please…please…"

Then the boy smiled.

And Daigui's screams rang out through the night.


	2. Chapter 1 - Rain

Chapter 1: Rain

A cloaked boy stood alone in a field with his arms raised above his head toward the raindrops falling from the sky.

_"__Do you ever look up when it's raining? It looks like the sky is falling."_

Tears had tainted the picturesque face of the lone boy. His black cloak, conspicuous with red clouds marking the torso area, had long become drenched from the downpour. Lowering his arms, the boy murmured something incomprehensible and the rain suddenly stopped. A ripple appeared within the air in front of him, almost like space itself was being torn apart, and a man stepped out of the ripple wearing a similar cloak to the boy's.

"Danan triumphed in the battle," the man said. "Fortaime is no more."

The boy's eyes had a flinty stare to them. "Tell him to return to Ellesméra. From there, Konan can reclaim the wandering Paths."

The man nodded, his ripple-patterned eyes impassive as he returned once again into the folds of air.

Alone again, the boy turned to the clouds above and whispered one last prayer before blending into the shadows below.


	3. Interlude I - Where do Babies Come From?

Interlude I: Where do Babies Come From?

"Mayu, where do babies come from?"

"Ha ha, I've been waiting for you to ask that. I've got a lot to say, so get cozy. It depends, Coen. There are so many different species and races existing, and it's not always the same for every race. Some species like humans produce their babies through intercourse—which, if you ask me, does absolutely no good for anyone. Did you have a specific species or race in mind?"

"I want to know how _you_ were born."

"That's what I thought. Well, as you've probably noticed by now, I'm not human. None of us are. Shiara, Yumaris, not a single member of the Akatsuki Families is human."

"Then what are you?"

"All the members of Akatsuki are known as torivors."

"What's that?"

"Torivors are just a term for beings that originated from our homeland. We've existed since far before Jahad and his army conquered the Tower."

Coen was silent for a second. "What's it like being a torivor?"

"Hmm. Well, it's certainly very different, especially our homeland. And if you promise to keep quiet about it, I'll even let you in on a little secret."

Coen giggled. "What is it?"

I smiled. "We actually don't have genitals. We don't need to. In our homeland, torivors cannot die. We are eternal. That means we have no need to create new torivors."

"Huh. But how were you created in the first place?"

"I dunno. No one knows. It's a secret. Ask Victoria."

"Boi."

"Hehe. Believe it or not, we actually have no clue. We don't need to know. All that's for sure is that we have existed since the very beginning. From there on, things get pretty hazy and we can only make guesses as to how we were made. Maybe we initiated Creation itself, but to be honest, that's probably not likely."

Coen still looked skeptical, but at least he seemed to believe me. "You said you can't die in your homeland. Does that mean you can die here then?"

"Theoretically, yes, but none of us have ever died before, so we're not entirely sure. Anyway, it took a lot of getting used to when we first came into this world."

"Oh right. How did you get here in the first place?"

"Why, aren't you full of questions today. I can't speak for Robin, Pain, and Konan, but the rest of us were curious, and we wanted to take a look at the Outside."

"You also said you had trouble adjusting when you first arrived. I can't imagine you being vulnerable, though…"

"Oh, quite a few interesting things happened when we first appeared, but it's getting late, and I don't want you staying up all night. I'll tell you some other time, okay?"

"Mkay," Coen murmured drowsily as he curled up next to me, already half-asleep. It would be dawn soon, and then it would be time for Salem to make the first move against humanity. Plans were being put into motion, the Families were mobilizing, and soon, Coen would need all the knowledge I can offer him in order to perform his Return.

I just hope he'll be ready. After all, not every fairy tale has a happy ending.


	4. Interlude II - First Breath

Interlude II: First Breath

"Ah, the story of what happened when we first arrived in the Outside. You see, back in the Elder Days, there existed sorcerers of such unbelievable strength they could snap their fingers and turn us to dust."

"You see, the Outside is so different from our homeland that many of our abilities wouldn't work here as they would in our homeland. We were still adjusting to our surroundings and stripped powers when we first emerged, but the sorcerers, the Framers of the Outside, had had eons upon eons to practice their craft. They were quick to see the danger in letting us stay abroad, and so before we could master Shaping, they rushed us one by one and trapped us in separate locations, far from any considerable sources of power.

"Our battles nearly caused the destruction of the Outside, so after we were defeated and buried, Dandalus, the greatest of the Framers, closed the door to the Outside so that no more Torivors could enter. Meanwhile, in our prisons, we used the solitude to meditate and master Shaping as well as test the limits as to what we could do here in this world. We eventually broke free of our bonds, tracked down the Framers, and either slew them or mortally injured and forced them into hiding. Ooh, fun fact, Yumaris actually just recently hunted down and killed one of the last remaining Framers: Vershaw, the most artistic of the founders. I can't say I don't appreciate that of her. Vershaw caused me a lot of trouble back in the day."


End file.
